PrimaLuna EVO 400 or Raven Audio Blackhawk integrateds?

Unfortunately, The Focal 1038be is a beast of a speaker that will require a lot of power to open up and sound right. Neither of these tube amps are going to provide what these speakers really need, O sure they could drive them to a degree but its pedestrian a real waste of a good speaker. I would put the tubes into a seperate pre amp and get a powerful clean solid state amp like McIntosh, Bryston, Pass labs, ect...

Matt M

From what I've read, the Ravens are clearly a level beyond the PL's. 

5 years with the  PL HP. If you're going only on internet suggestions, with articles,specs, graphs..whatever, then read as much as you can. 

In the end, it is subjective. The 1038's can sound great with many amps, and the PL is one of them. Hearing them in your room won't replace endless forum "I heard them with..." 

The Raven appears to be good stuff, but the PL possibly edges it out  with feature/value. Final SQ is a personal thing. Easily matches build quality, though Raven looks like it may have the edge with a few nicer, components? 

+1 Tablejockey. I would add this, too: I listened to the EVO 400 with Spendor floorstanders and the bass was very muddy, boomy. I am sure that I formed a rash impression of them, not least because they only had the tubes they had; other tubes would bring a much different sound, I’m sure. The key for me buying what I did (Quicksilver) was the build quality, very few people trading up from them, and the very low number of posts I found complaining about the build quality of the gear; lots of raves, good comments about service from Mike Sanders, very few complaints. I’ve had it 6 months and have swapped in new and good tubes and the sound’s changed a lot.

For what is worth, I'm running a pair of REL S3 subs with the Focals. I am a bit confused as these speakers are rated at 93db sensitivity...SO just how much power do U need to realize the full potential of the speaker?